Twenty20 Twist to Rain Rule

It's raining on the Kingsmead, Durban and the start of the India-Scotland match has been delayed. India would not want to miss out on the points and more importantly the batting and bowling practise that the match would provide. Tonight ICC may actually come to the rescue of the Indian team.

The Playing Conditions of the T20 World Cup have seen an important (and sensible) change to rules regarding the resumption of the game if the match gets disrupted by rain.

Law 3.9 - Suspension of play for adverse conditions of ground, weather or light
Laws 3.8 and 3.9 shall apply subject to the following:

3.5.1 If conditions during a rain stoppage improve and the rain is reduced to drizzle, the umpires must consider if they would have suspended play in the first place under similar conditions. If both on-field umpires agree that the current drizzle would not have caused a stoppage, then play shall resume immediately. In these circumstances the provisions of Laws 3.9 (b) (i) and 3.9 (c) (i) shall not apply.

The previous rule was that 'once play was stopped due to rain, resumption could only happen when the rain came to a complete stop'. That stringency has now been relaxed, thankfully as India may realize later tonight.